Illustrations by Arnie Fenner. This novella is also contained in the (paperback) collection Down and Out in the Year 2000 .
"Kim Stanley Robinson has developed a reputation for the unexpected. Exploding onto the science fiction scene in the 1980s with a series of award-winning and award-nominated stories, novellas, and novels, the most consistent traits observable were his original ideas, his capable prose, and the variety of his output. No two alike, with every new work his talent has explored new areas -- 'straight' sf, traditional fantasy, horror, near future extrapolation and far-flung big-picture epics. Now, with A Short, Sharp Shock, he has turned his hand to the surreal.
"With the conviction of a persistent, recurring, unwelcome dream, the story is propelled from surprise to surmise to disillusionment to satisfaction to utter mystification. Incorporating erotic symbolism fraught with quasi-Freudian overtones and social contrivances invested with Jungian implications, Robinson has created a modern mythological playground for the twentieth century imagination.
"This hypnotic novel is more than just another spiritual quest for identity. With an urgency reminiscent of Philip K.Dick, the ambiguous nature of reality itself is both central and inseparable from the protagonist's own personal search for meaning and understanding. Along the way, bizarre and colorful imagery and iconography are the order of the day, and moments of stability are unsustainable in the face of treachery and collusion among the elements of the physical environment as well as characters with secret agendas and unknown motivation". [jacket blurb, US hbk, 1990]
"Robinson is a literary landscape artist, creating breathtaking vistas". -- (in Detroit Metro News ).
"This is an abstract book. It's hard to classify or review. And it remains without explanation. Judge for yourself." --Henry W.Targowski (in Mark/Space , 18 November 1996).
Available from:
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Mark V.Ziesing
P.O.Box 76
Shingletown, CA 96088
United States
